Ticks

I hate ticks.

Out of all of the creepy-crawlies I've encountered, I hate ticks the most.  And that's saying a lot.  I have battled tarantulas in my classroom, met scorpions in the oddest places, had giant spiders fall from the ceiling next to me, killed large cockroaches on a regular basis and even had a red ant colony migrate onto my bed!  Still...ticks are worse in my opinion and I've felt that way long before I knew they could transmit a debilitating disease that wreaks havoc on your life.

I still remember a terrifying date Dom and I had back in Alberta.  We went to Abraham Lake by car and explored the beautiful surroundings.  On our way back a tick climbed up Dom's neck - he felt it, threw it in the car and we lost it.  Then we found it again climbing my neck...same reactions ensued.  Three times this tick was found and lost in the car.  Later that night I found it on me AGAIN and finally killed it - which took a lot of effort and various tools - including a hammer!  That thing was almost indestructible!

That brings us to now. On Friday night we found a tick on Stella, our cat.  I was not irrational in my fear, thankfully.  We took her to the vet because our cat is fierce and we didn't think it would be an easy task to remove it.  The Vet technician showed the tick to us afterwards...It seemed rather harmless in the little glass tube, yet still disgusting.

It made me think of all of my experiences and why I hated ticks more than other things I've encountered.  I came to the conclusion that it was because ticks were out to get me...literally.  Tarantulas, scorpions, even ants (and there are some very scary ants out there) don't go out of their way to find you and eat you.  But ticks are on the prowl.  Not only will they go after you, they will latch on and feed off of you, like the parasites that they are.

The Bible says that the devil is on the prowl (I Peter 5:8).  He is trying to have sin latch onto us just like a parasite.  Sin can seem harmless at first but just like those ticks it grows and transmits disease...if we leave it in our lives it affects us negatively in our walk with the Lord and our relationships with each other.  It can even become ingrained in us, so deep that we can't tell where it starts.

I actually do a tick sweep nowadays when I get back into the house from a lovely walk in the wilderness...checking that one hasn't hitched a ride.  How often do we do that spiritually, asking God to do a sweep - making sure that we are not carrying something sinister.  If we find something what is our reaction?  Do we just let it go in our house to come after us again?  Or do we take that hammer and dispose of it effectively!  This may be a far-fetched analogy, but I do think that when we find sin in our lives the best thing to do is deal with it strongly and firmly - If we ask God He will allow us to recognize it for what it is, Godly repentance let's us get into a position to have it removed, Jesus' power breaks it off, God's grace is strong enough to kill it, and prayer is our hammer.  Let's let God finish the work in us!

I Peter 5:8-9a (ESV)
"Be sober-minded; be watchful.  Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him, firm in your faith."

Blessings from Destruction

Our neighbour's shed catching on fire has definitely given me a lot to think about.

Though our shed was relatively safe from the blaze, the siding on the back of our house melted.  Our insurance company is covering the cost of the damage.  Since Dom is good at working with his hands we are actually able to save on costs and use part of the money for new windows.  This is good news since we are conducting the world's slowest house-flip and needed to get the windows done anyways (we probably would have thought of them a few years down the road).

So through the destruction of our house we are able to reconstruct parts of it that needed to be replaced anyways.  I think this gives us a good lesson as Christians.  Blessings can come out of destruction.  Sometimes destruction is necessary to move forward with our walk with the Lord.  We don't like it, but God has this amazing ability to use things we don't like (or think should be a negative aspect in our lives) for His glory and for our own good. 

This photo was taken on our deck. 

No matter how big the blaze seems to be, God is always in control. We need to learn to trust Him through the destruction.

2 Corinthians 4:16a,17-18 (ESV)
"So we do not lose heart...for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

Feeling the Heat

Recently our neighbour had a fire destroy their shed.  Though their shed was only three feet away from ours, the flames did not spread to our side of the fence. But the heat of the fire melted the exterior siding of the back of our house.

I don't think we realize how influenced we are as Christians by the turmoil around us.  Perhaps we think that if we just build a wall at the right spot, the flames won't reach us - but we don't stop to think that there is heat that can hurt us from a distance.

My neighbour's advice in the midst of the fire was for us to keep pouring water on our own shed, the part of our property that was closest to the flames.  After all was said and done, our shed was still standing.   

What do you do to be refreshed by God's Love?  How do you curb the heat that can destroy?

Philippians 2:12b-16a (NIV)
"...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.  Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life..."

A Beginning

Apparently I have had this blog since 2005 and done nothing with it.  I recently found it by accident and decided to use it.

Sometimes it is a good thing to look back at where you have been to realize how far along you have come.  Even if it is only to find you must re-trace your steps to gain a distance you thought you had already travelled.

This is my account of the meanders of my soul.  It is designed to be a place where I can pour out thoughts of where I am positioned, what I am facing and the perspective I have on God and life in a specific moment.  So that I can chart the path that the Lord is leading me on and record the lessons He teaches me along the way.